Visitations

I picked up this book at the San Diego Comic Con after it was recommended to me by Tom Beland (who writes "True Story, Swear to God" which you should also read). I found it to be one of the most beautiful and moving graphic novels I've ever read.A distraught woman visits a church looking for some peace and quiet, but despite her pleas, she is interrupted by the resident minister who senses that she needs someone to talk to. She tells him that she does not believe in God. Unfazed, the minister bets her that he can convince her of God's presence simply by looking at three random stories in the morning's newspaper.Each story the pair reads is filled with the sort of tragedy and loss that is commonly associated with the news. Nevertheless, the minister makes a case that God had a hand in each instance.The woman remains unconvinced. In fact, the news articles upset her even more than she had been already. She is, however, "saved" by what can be interpreted as a moment of Divine intervention or perhaps as just a lucky coincidence.What makes "Visitations" special is that it isn't reason that brings the woman around -- it's faith. Faith in God is a choice, not something that can be proven. The story's ambiguous ending gives readers that choice too. It doesn't insist that "this *is* true." Instead it asks, "what would you believe?"